With three consecutive years of drought, declining reservoir levels, and environmental restrictions on water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta to central and southern California - cuts to our water supply were inevitable.

On April 14, 2009, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) voted to cut water deliveries across the region by 10% starting this July. This action confirms the severity of the water situation and calls upon Anaheim to use water more efficiently on a permanent basis.

MWD's move translates into a water supply cut back for Anaheim equal to 3.5% of its overall water supply, or enough to supply about 5,200 homes for a year. (The reason why MWD's action doesn't translate into a full 10% cut reflects the fact that Anaheim's primary water source is the Orange County groundwater basin.)

So, what's the bottom line?

If Anaheim stays on pace to achieve water conservation savings of 4.5% by the end of June 2009, Anaheim will be able to comply with the 10% regional cut back and avoid higher rates from MWD that would only be imposed if we use more water than MWD has allocated.

As a result, we ask all of our customers to please continue to look for ways to conserve! For helpful hints and information on incentives to save water, visit us online.

Marcie L. EdwardsAnaheim Public Utilities General Manager

Anaheim Preps for Worsening Drought with New Ordinance

On March 31, 2009, the Anaheim City Council approved APU's proposed revisions to Anaheim's existing drought ordinance.

The new ordinance establishes a temporary Water Reduction Rate that would pay for higher water costs, including penalties, if Anaheim is unable to reduce its water use accordingly.

The temporary Water Reduction Rate aligns water use with available water supply by increasing or decreasing the rate based on the severity of the supply cutback and associated price increases resulting from the regional shortage level declared by MWD. This makes a potential drought response much more flexible and easier to implement, as well as equitably spreads potential cost increases across all customers.

It is important to note, however, that the Water Reduction Rate still requires City Council action to activate it.

In other ordinance provisions, the City Council also has the authority to direct APU to interrupt water used for landscape irrigation in the event of a catastrophic water supply interruption, such as an earthquake or levee break in the Sacramento Bay-Delta.

Voluntary conservation recommendations, from no-cost water use habits to outlining financial incentives for making water-saving investments, were also added to the ordinance.

Overall, this voluntary approach toward greater water use efficiency, supports the Mayor and City Council's position that the previous regime of punitive measures were impractical to enforce and would not result in customers adopting long-term water conservation habits.

650 Million Gallons of Water and Counting...

With all this talk of water supply cut backs and multi-year drought, there has to be some good news on the water front, right?

Well, in Anaheim, there is a lot of good news thanks to the water use efficiency habits of our residents and businesses.

From July 2008 through February 2009, Anaheim has lowered its water consumption by 650 million gallons. If Anaheim customers keep up this pace, total savings should reach 950 million gallons by June 2009.

However, with current precipitation levels still below normal both locally and regionally, and coupled with MWD's recent 10% regional water shortage declaration, Anaheim must save more.

Want to know how you can get more out of each drop of water?

Start by signing up for our Home Utility Check Up today. For your convenience, we even have an online version. Call (714) 939-9020 for more information.

APU Seeks Stimulus Dollars for Water Projects

Following the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on February 17, 2009, APU quickly applied for stimulus dollars to fund critical water system projects.

Specifically, APU submitted three pre-applications for grants from the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund for drinking water system improvements:

$13 million for seismic upgrades at Linda Vista reservoir

$2 million for water main corrosion control, including the use of PVC pipelines to replace ductile iron pipes

$800,000 for mixers and chlorine analyzers at seven finished water reservoirs

APU is also seeking $6 million for its planned downtown recycled water demonstration plant from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Finally, APU is currently working with the City to prioritize projects to be funded from the $3.25 million Anaheim has already received through the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program.

For more information on the City of Anaheim's stimulus funding efforts, go here.

How the Drought is Improving Anaheim's Public Spaces

Water scarcity requires making smarter water choices. In the calculus of figuring out the highest and best uses of water, maintaining a lush city parkway or street median may not be high on everyone's list.

However, those strips of real estate impact civic pride, property values, and help Anaheim maintain an aesthetic standard consistent with a major tourist destination. In Anaheim, APU is making it possible to have both: water economy and beautiful public spaces.

The crown jewel thus far is the recent completion of the Energy Field that has 65,000 square feet of artificial turf, in addition to solar energy features. By using artificial turf, Anaheim now has a new park without needing another 2.9 million gallons of water per year.

Besides the Energy Field, as part of an ongoing joint venture with the City's Public Works department, APU helped to fund various artificial turf installations in Anaheim. Below is an example at 9th Street between Katella and Stella:

Overall, APU has helped fund the installation of 3,382 square feet of artificial turf throughout Anaheim, with a resulting water savings of 150,000 gallons per year. In addition, water saving beautification projects are not limited to artificial turf. Drought tolerant planting is also being used citywide. Below is an example of Diane Way after a landscape makeover:

AC-NET Names Competition Winners

The Anaheim Center for New Energy Technologies named the winners of its Clean Tech Business Plan Competition on April 15, 2009 at Cal State Fullerton.

Hadronex won the competition for their SmartCover® product that can detect and help prevent sewer spills through continuous real-time, wireless monitoring of critical locations throughout a sewer network. As the winner, Hadronex received the top prize of $25,000.

Enovative Group out of Venice, CA placed second, winning a $10,000 prize for their patented D'MAND CIRC® product, which is a demand controlled circulation pump that saves water, gas, and electricity versus conventional models found in commercial water heating systems.

Hadronex was one of five finalists invited to make a presentation on the final day of competition. Global Eco Soil Solutions a maker of a water-saving irrigation system and Skanden Energy, a maker biomass-fueled electric generation units, were the other two finalists.

A total of 44 entries were received for the competition.

About AC-NET: AC-NET was established in 2008 and is a partnership between the City of Anaheim and Cal State Fullerton. AC-NET's goal is economic develpment through supporting entrepreneurial efforts to bringing clean energy and water technologies to market. The vision for AC-NET was first introduced to the public by Anaheim City Mayor, Curt Pringle, during his 2008 State of the City Address.

Weather conditions are dry and there are slight cut backs to our total water supply. Response level is: Voluntary Conservation Measures.

Voluntary Conservation Measures

Refrain from hosing or washing paved surfaces except where necessary to protect public health and safety.

Promptly repair all leaks from indoor and outdoor plumbing fixtures.

Refrain from allowing water to run off landscaped areas onto adjoining streets, sidewalks, parking lots, or alleys.

Refrain from allowing water to run off onto adjoining streets, sidewalks, parking lots, or alleys while washing vehicles.

Adjust landscape watering according to weather conditions; preferably limit watering to no more than every other day.

Limit landscape watering between the hours of 9a.m. and 5p.m.

Offer guests in hotels, motels, and other commercial lodging establishments the option of not laundering towels and linens daily.

Send a Friendly Reminder

If you spot water waste, please let us know and we'll send a friendly reminder to the residence or business that you think may be the source of the water waste. Call 311 from any Anaheim based landline, (714) 765-4311 from your cell phone, or click here to submit your request.

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